Disposable beverage container and method of operation

ABSTRACT

A disposable drink container includes sealed apertures at or near opposite ends of the container. Liquid contained within the interior portion of the container may be rapidly consumed by positioning one of the first and second the apertures above the other. The lower one of the apertures is unsealed and at placed by the user&#39;s mouth. The upper one of the apertures is subsequently unsealed so that the liquid contained within the interior portion of the container is rapidly discharged into the user&#39;s mouth.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally to beverage containers and, more specifically, to a disposable beverage container with upper and lower apertures to facilitate the removal of the liquid contained in the beverage container.

Description of the Related Art

Containers for holding, storing, and transporting liquids have greatly evolved over time. Early containers were often hollowed out gourds, animal skins, and the like. Other containers, such as wood, clay, and the like were used to create vessels for storage of liquids. In more modern times, glass, plastic, and metal (e.g., steel, aluminum, or the like) were commonly used. Many of these beverage containers are still in wide use today.

Waxed paper containers are frequently used for storage of liquids, such as milk. Within the last fifty years, multi-layered paper containers have been widely used for storage of small or single servings of juice or milk. These boxes, sometimes referred to as a “juice box,” are typically manufactured from a liquid packaging board that includes multiple layers of paper, polyethylene, and aluminum foil. The paper layers are used to shape the product and give the juice box an extra source of strength. The polyethylene layers form a liquid-tight seal. The aluminum layers may be used to prevent light or oxygen from spoiling the liquid inside the box. For this reason, juice boxes often do not require refrigeration.

In a typical juice box, a small sealed aperture is provided on the top of the box and a flexible straw is often glued directly to the outside of the box. Users can puncture the sealed aperture using the bottom of the straw to thereby gain access to the stored liquid in the container.

Alcoholic beverages, such as wine are sometimes supplied in such liquid containers. Instead of a sealed aperture on the top of the container, a “wine box” may contain a spigot or valve near the bottom of one side of the box to gain access to the wine contained therein.

Juice boxes have not typically been used for carbonated alcoholic beverages, such as beer. Small serving size portions of beer are still distributed in bottles or cans. A popular drinking game, sometimes referred to as “a shotgun” is sometimes used while drinking beer from a can. To shotgun a beverage, a small hole is punched in the side or bottom of the can. The drinker places their mouth over the hole at the bottom of the can and pulls the tab at the top of the can. With this approach, the liquid is quickly drained through the bottom hole into the drinker's mouth. The bottom hole in the beer can is typically made with a sharp object, such as a key, bottle opener, knife, or the like. Other specialized novelty tools have been developed to create the bottom hole in the beer can.

The creation of a hole at the bottom of the metal beer can with a sharp object increases the possibility of jagged edge of the can injuring the drinker. The ad hoc nature of the creation of the hole creates unpredictable results and possible safety concerns.

Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a need for a beverage container that can be safely opened and can facilitate the rapid discharge of the liquid from within the container. The present disclosure is directed to a disposable beverage container and method of operation that addresses these issues. This, and other advantages, will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the beverage container constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the beverage container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the beverage container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the top of the container of FIG. 1 with an alternate aperture shape and seal.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the beverage container in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the container in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the beverage container of FIG. 1 showing alternative placement of the puncturable sealed apertures.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the beverage container of FIG. 1 showing further alternative placement of the puncturable sealed apertures.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the beverage container of FIG. 1 showing alternative placement of the sealed apertures and alternate aperture shape and seal.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the beverage container of FIG. 1 showing further alternative placement of the sealed apertures and alternate aperture shape and seal.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the beverage container of FIG. 1 showing further alternative placement of the puncturable sealed apertures.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the cylindrical-shaped beverage container showing placement of the puncturable sealed apertures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The beverage container is embodied, in one example, in a container 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. In an exemplary embodiment, the container is manufactured from a single piece of liquid packaging board, which is typically manufactured with six layers comprising multiple layers of paper, polyethylene, and aluminum foil. As noted above, the paper layers are used to shape the product and to give the container 100 strength and form. The polyethylene layers form a liquid-type seal while aluminum layers may serve the dual purpose of blocking out light and oxygen. The multiple layers of the liquid packaging board serve to prevent the liquid from becoming spoiled.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the container 100 has side panels including a front panel 102 and rear panel 104. The container 100 also has additional side panels including a left panel 106 and right panel 108 as well as a top panel 110 and a bottom panel 112. Because the container 100 is manufactured from a single piece of liquid packaging board that is folded, the various panels (e.g., the front panel 102) are coupled to the adjacent panels (e.g., the left and right side panels 106-108 and the top and bottom panels 110-112) to form a sealed container. The various panels are folded to form the container 100 and to thereby define an interior portion 114 of the container 100 in which the liquid is placed during a filling process.

The top panel in FIG. 1 contains a top aperture 120. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the top aperture 120 may be circular in shape. However, other shapes and sizes may be easily substituted for the top aperture. In an exemplary embodiment, the top aperture is sealed by a top seal 124. In an exemplary embodiment, the top seal 124 is made with a material that may be readily punctured. For example, the top seal 124 may include the aluminum and polyethylene layers of the liquid packaging board, but does not include the paper layers to thereby allow the top seal 124 to be readily punctured.

The top panel 110 is shown in the top plan view of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the container 100 and illustrates the bottom panel 112 and the bottom aperture 122. FIG. 3 also clearly illustrates a bottom seal 126. Like the top seal 124, the bottom seal 126 is manufactured from a material that enables the seal to be punctured. As described above with respect to the top seal 124, the bottom seal 126 may be manufactured using one or more layers of the aluminum and polyethylene layers of the liquid packaging board described above.

Alternatively, the top and bottom seals 124-126 may be made of known low temperature seals, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, foil, mylar, or other thermoplastic materials that are known in the art for sealing openings in a liquid-containing carton.

In the embodiment illustrated in the FIGS. 1-3, a tool (e.g., a key, pen, knife, paperclip, or the like) can be used to puncture the top and bottom seals 124-126. As discussed above, a straw glued directly to the outside of a conventional juice box is used to puncture the sealed aperture. Although users may not use a straw to consume the liquid contained in the beverage container 100, the container may include an object similar to a straw, attached to the outside of the container, to puncture top and bottom seals 124-126. Even if the top and bottom seals 124-126 are punctured with a sharp tool, the seal itself has no sharp edges that present a danger of injury to the user, such as may be encountered with a metal beer can.

In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 4, the aperture 120 is elongated. Likewise, the top seal 124 in the embodiment of FIG. 4 is similarly elongated. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the specific shape illustrated in FIG. 4 can be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of the container 100 illustrating the elongated top aperture 120 and top seal 124. Similarly, FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the container 100 illustrating the elongated bottom aperture 122 and bottom seal 126. As described above, the top and bottom seals 124-126 in the embodiment of FIG. 4 may be manufactured from the aluminum and polyethylene layers of the liquid packaging board or the alternative sealing materials discussed above. Instead of being designed for puncturing, the top seal 124 includes a top flap 130 that acts as a pull-tab. The user can readily remove the top seal 124 by exerting a pulling force on the top flap 130. Similarly, the bottom seal 126 includes a bottom flap 132 designed for ease in the removal of the bottom seal 126 in the manner described above with respect to the top seal 124. Thus, while the top and bottom seals 124-126 in the version illustrated in the FIGS. 1-3 require a tool to puncture the seals, the top and bottom seals 124- 126 are not punctured but are readily removed using the top and bottom flaps 130-132, respectively.

While the embodiment in FIGS. 1-3 illustrates a circular shape for both the top aperture 120 and bottom aperture 122, it is possible to provide a mix of the circular aperture of FIGS. 1-3 with the elongated aperture illustrated in FIGS. 4-6. For example, the bottom aperture 122 can be circular in shape and puncturable, while the top aperture 120 may be of the elongated version illustrated in FIGS. 4-5. In this embodiment, the user punctures the bottom seal 126 in the manner described above, and places the bottom aperture 122 over the user's mouth. The user can then pull the top flap 130 to open the elongated top aperture 120 to release the liquid contained within the interior portion 114.

In yet another embodiment, the circular apertures 120-122 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 may also include a flap similar to the top flap 130 and bottom flap 132. In this embodiment, the circular apertures 120-122 need not be punctured. Instead, the circular apertures are opened by exerting pulling forces on the top and bottom flaps 130-132, respectively.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate alternative placements for the top and bottom apertures 120-122. In FIG. 7, the top aperture 120 is placed in the rear panel 104 proximate the top panel 110 while the bottom aperture 122 is placed in the opposite panel (e.g., the front panel 102) proximate the bottom panel 112 of the container 100. In FIG. 8, the top aperture 120 is placed in a side panel (e.g., the left panel 106) proximate the top panel 110. The bottom aperture 122 is placed in the opposite side panel (e.g., the right panel 108) proximate the bottom panel 112 of the container 100.

In the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8, the top and bottom apertures 120-122 are of the circular type. The top and bottom apertures 120-122 in the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8 may be puncturable, as described above. In an alternative embodiment, the circular top and bottom apertures 120-122 may also include flaps similar to the top flap 130 and bottom flap 132.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate alternative placements for the top and bottom apertures 120-122. In FIG. 9, the top aperture 120 is placed in a side panel (e.g., the left panel 106) proximate the top panel 110. The bottom aperture 122 is placed in the opposite side panel (e.g., the right panel 108) proximate the bottom panel 112 of the container 100. In FIG. 10, the top aperture 120 is placed in the front panel 102 proximate the top panel 110 while the bottom aperture 122 is placed in the opposite panel (e.g., the rear panel 104) proximate the bottom panel 112 of the container 100.

In the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 10, the top and bottom apertures 120-122 are of the elongated type. The top and bottom apertures 120-122 in the embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 10 also include the top and bottom flaps 130-132, respectively. In an alternative embodiment, the top and bottom apertures may be of the elongated type or may be circular apertures as illustrated in, by way of example, FIG. 1. The circular top and bottom apertures 120-122 may also include flaps similar to the top flap 130 and bottom flap 132.

FIG. 11 illustrates a further alternative placement of the sealed apertures 120-122. In this embodiment, the top aperture 120 is placed in the top panel 110 of container 100. The sealed apertures 120-122 may be circular, as shown in FIG. 11 or elongated, as illustrated in other figures. The sealed apertures 120-122 may also be a mix of circular and elongated apertures. Furthermore, the sealed apertures 120-122 may be puncturable or may include may flaps similar to the top flap 130 and bottom flap 132.

FIGS. 1-11 illustrate the container 100 in a typical rectangular carton configuration. However, the container may be manufactured in other shapes as well. For example, FIG. 12 illustrates the container 100 implemented as a cylindrical-shaped beverage container. Instead of side panels 102-108 (see FIG. 1), the container 100 of FIG. 12 has a continuous cylindrical side panel 128 which is coupled to the top panel 110 at one end of the cylinder and attached to the bottom panel 112 at the opposite end of the cylinder so that the container has the general shape of a beer can.

In this embodiment, the top aperture 120 is placed in the top panel 110 of the container 100 and the bottom aperture 122 is placed in the side panel 128 proximate the bottom panel 112. This arrangement facilitates the fast withdrawal of the liquid within the container 100. Alternatively, the top aperture 120 is placed in the top panel 110 of container 100 near the edge of the side panel and the bottom aperture 122 is placed in the side panel 128 proximate the bottom panel 112 and generally on the side furthest from the edge where the top aperture is positioned. This arrangement facilitates the fast withdrawal of the liquid within the container 100.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the top aperture 120 may be placed in the top panel 110 or in the side panel 128 at or near the top panel. Similarly, the bottom aperture 122 may be placed in the bottom panel 112 or in the side panel 128 at or near the bottom panel. In yet another alternative, the top aperture 120 is placed in the top panel 110 of the container 100 and the bottom aperture 122 is placed in the bottom panel 112.

As with other embodiments described herein, the sealed apertures 120-122 may be circular, as shown in FIG. 12 or elongated, as illustrated in other figures. The sealed apertures 120-122 may also be a mix of circular and elongated apertures. Furthermore, the sealed apertures 120-122 may be puncturable or may include may flaps similar to the top flap 130 and bottom flap 132.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the elongated top and bottom apertures 120-122 may omit the top and bottom flaps 130-132, respectively and rely on puncturing to unseal the apertures. In yet another alternative embodiment, one of the top and bottom apertures 120-122 may be round or elongated and may be puncturable or may include a flap to facilitate unsealing of the aperture. The various combinations of circular and elongated apertures can readily be employed in the container 100. Similarly, the apertures may be puncturable, or may include flaps, in any combination such that one or both apertures are circular and one or both apertures are puncturable. In addition, one or more of the apertures may be circular and one or more of the apertures may include a flap to facilitate unsealing of the aperture. Similarly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other shapes may be employed for the aperture, such as the elongated shape illustrated in several of the Figures herein. In the embodiments of FIGS. 4-8, the elongated apertures may be located at different positions in the container 100 and may be puncturable or include flaps to facilitate the unsealing of the aperture. Furthermore, one skilled in the art will appreciate that other shapes of apertures may be used in the container 100.

In operation, a user initially unseals either the top aperture 120 or the bottom aperture 122. Because the container 100 includes apertures on both the top and bottom, it does not matter which aperture is initially opened. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, whichever aperture is opened is generally facing up to avoid inadvertent discharge of the liquid contained within the interior portion 114 (see FIG. 1) of the container 100.

After one of the apertures (either the top aperture 120 or the bottom aperture 122) is unsealed, the user quickly inverts the container 100 to place the opened aperture directly above or near the user's mouth. Following the proper positioning of the container, the remaining aperture is then opened to quickly release the liquid in the interior portion 114 of the container 100 directly into the user's mouth.

Because the various panels (e.g., front and rear panels 102-104 and left and right panels 106-108) are flexible, the user can apply slight pressure to the front and rear panels 102-104 to further accelerate the discharge of the liquid into the user's mouth. In yet another variation, the user can apply pressure to the side panels e.g., the front and rear panels 102-104 and/or the left and right panels 106-108) after unsealing only one of the sealed apertures. The pressure will force the liquid out of the unsealed aperture and, when the remaining sealed aperture is unsealed, the rate of discharge will increase further.

The foregoing described embodiments depict different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).

Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A liquid-containing container comprising: opposing spaced apart front and back panels; opposing spaced apart left and right side panels connected to the front and back panels; opposing spaced apart top and bottom panels connected to the front and back panels and connected to the left and right side panels to thereby form the container and to define an interior space to hold a liquid; a top sealed aperture in the top panel; and a bottom sealed aperture in the bottom panel wherein the liquid is released from the interior portion of the container by unsealing both the top and bottom sealed apertures.
 2. The container of claim 1 wherein the front, back, left, right, top, and bottom panels comprise a liquid packaging board having a plurality of layers including a paper layer, a polyethylene layer and an aluminum foil layer.
 3. The container of claim 2 wherein the front, back, left, right, top, and bottom panels comprise a single piece of liquid packaging board folded to form the front, back, left, right, top, and bottom panels.
 4. The container of claim 1 wherein the top and bottom sealed apertures are puncturable and are unsealed by puncturing the top and bottom sealed apertures.
 5. The container of claim 1 wherein the top and bottom sealed apertures further comprise pull tabs and are unsealed by pulling the pull tabs from the top and bottom sealed apertures.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the front, back, left, and right panels are flexible and can be compressed after the top and bottom sealed apertures are unsealed to thereby accelerate the release of the liquid from the interior portion of the container.
 7. A liquid-containing container comprising: opposing spaced apart first and second end panels; two pairs of opposing side panels, each of the side panels connected to the first and second end panels to thereby form the container and to define an interior space to hold the liquid; a first sealed aperture positioned proximate the first end panel; and a second sealed aperture positioned proximate the second end panel wherein the liquid is released from the interior portion of the container by unsealing both the first and second sealed apertures.
 8. The container of claim 7 wherein the first aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the first end panel and the second aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the second end panel.
 9. The container of claim 7 wherein the first aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the first end panel and the second aperture is positioned proximate the second end panel in the side panel opposing the side panel having the first aperture.
 10. The container of claim 7 wherein the side panels, first end panel, and second end panel comprise a liquid packaging board having a plurality of layers including a paper layer, a polyethylene layer and an aluminum foil layer.
 11. The container of claim 10 wherein the side panels, first end panel, and second end panel comprise a single piece of liquid packaging board folded to form the side panels, first end panel, and second end panel.
 12. The container of claim 7 wherein at least one of the first and second sealed apertures are puncturable and are unsealed by puncturing the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures.
 13. The container of claim 7 wherein at least one of the first and second sealed apertures further comprise a pull tab and are unsealed by pulling the pull tab on the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures.
 14. The system of claim 1 wherein the side panels are flexible and can be compressed after the first and second sealed apertures are unsealed to thereby accelerate the release of the liquid from the interior portion of the container.
 15. A liquid-containing container comprising: opposing spaced apart first and second end panels; a sidewall portion connected to the first and second end panels to thereby form the container and to define an interior space to hold the liquid; a first sealed aperture positioned in or near the first end panel; and a second sealed aperture positioned in or near the second end panel wherein the liquid is released from the interior portion of the container by unsealing both the first and second sealed apertures.
 16. The container of claim 15 wherein at least one of the first and second apertures is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing first and second end panels.
 17. The container of claim 15 wherein at least one of the first and second apertures is positioned in the sidewall portion of the container.
 18. The container of claim 15 wherein the sidewall portion of the container is cylindrical and a first end of the cylindrical sidewall portion is connected to the first end panel and a second end of the cylindrical sidewall portion is connected to the second end panel.
 19. A method for rapid discharge of liquid in liquid-containing container having opposing spaced apart first and second end panels and two pairs of opposing side panels, each of the side panels connected to the first and second end panels to thereby form the container and to define an interior space to hold the liquid, the method comprising: unsealing a first sealed aperture positioned proximate the first end panel; positioning the unsealed first aperture at the mouth of a user; and unsealing a second sealed aperture positioned proximate the second end panel to thereby release the liquid from the interior portion of the container through the first unsealed aperture into the user's mouth.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the first end panel and the second aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the second end panel.
 21. The method of claim 19 wherein the first aperture is positioned in one of the pairs of opposing side panels proximate the first end panel and the second aperture is positioned proximate the second end panel in the side panel opposing the side panel having the first aperture.
 22. The method of claim 19 wherein at least one of the first and second sealed apertures are puncturable and unsealing the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures comprises puncturing the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures.
 23. The method of claim 19 wherein at least one of the first and second sealed apertures further comprise a pull tab and unsealing the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures comprises pulling the pull tab on the at least one of the first and second sealed apertures.
 24. The method of claim 19 wherein the side panels are flexible, the method further comprising compressing the side panels after the first and second sealed apertures are unsealed to thereby accelerate the release of the liquid from the interior portion of the container.
 25. The method of claim 19 wherein the side panels are flexible, the method further comprising compressing the side panels after one of the first and second sealed apertures is unsealed to release of the liquid from the interior portion of the container and subsequently unsealing the other of the first and second sealed apertures thereby accelerate the release of the liquid from the interior portion of the container. 